


Apocalypse.

by Emuutea



Category: The Dragon Prince
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dramatic title, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I can't write angst but im trying, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pining Rayla, Raydia, Romantic Fluff, The dragon prince - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unrequited Love, Useless Lesbians, love triangle?, tdp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2019-10-31 08:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17846306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emuutea/pseuds/Emuutea
Summary: “Your lips,My lips,Apocalypse.”!! IRREGULAR UPDATES !!





	1. i

Leaping off crumbling bridges, watching the cityscape turn to dust. Filming the helicopters crashing down in the vast blue ocean from way up above.

Loud music on speakers, suspense rising making you sit at the very edge of your seat.

Lovers, wrapped gently in each others arms, kisses. It's all gonna be okay, hiding in hollowed out spots as if that be any good shelter.

Running trough rivers, flooding waters rising up to your knees and quickly consuming most of your lower body making it hard to walk.

Flashbacks, kids, secrets, good times. It all has such a pleasantly generic feeling to it.

Dramatic music playing loudly trough the speakers, the lovers reach for each other but it tragically all fades to black.

_Apocalypse._

* * *

  **Claudia**

"Argh I feel like I've been locked in there _forever_!" Rayla roared out loudly in a thick Scottish accent, she never liked going to the cinema. I had cued in on that a while back, she said the loud sounds and atmosphere was 'claustrophobic'. I have never seen an issue with it, yeah the sounds were sometimes way too obnoxiously loud but it was somewhat tolerable most of the time. Maybe Rayla just had sensitive ears? She always did seem bothered by loud noises. I can't believe you and Callum made me come watch that disaster!" She groaned loudly making sure we could hear her frustration, I could hear Callum laughing behind us. He casually put an arm around Rayla's shoulder, “Come on Rayla, it wasn't _that_ bad." He put emphasis on 'that', but his persuasive tone didn't help Rayla change her mind. She shrugged off his arm and quickened her pace to match my speed. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle "it wasn't _horrible_ —" Callum interrupted me by yelling 'see' to prove his point "but! It wasn't all that good either." I ended my statement earning a slightly disappointed look from Callum and a taunting laugh from Rayla that was directed at him. I have him a friendly push on the shoulder with a smile, trying to get my message across. Which I think it did as he walked next to me, gently brushing his hand against mine.

* * *

**Rayla**

The only thing I disliked in this very moment more than the horrendous film I had just been forced to sit trough was their painfully obvious flirting with each other. They always invited me to go places with them claiming that it 'would be fun', but I was so obviously an unnecessary third wheel. They'd do just fine without me there. It hadn't bothered me much at all before, maybe it was because the flirting wasn't blatantly obvious before. It felt that, at least I thought so. Recently though I had stared to get more and more annoyed when they did those 'cute' flirty things, it wasn't in a 'ugh people who like each other are so dumb and gross' kind of way. It was more of a soul crushing feeling I got whenever they would flirt or look affectionately at each other. I didn't quite understand that feeling, it was foreign but I knew I couldn't stand it. Yet, I constantly kept accepting their requests to go with them, like an idiot.

I truly was an idiot wasn't I? No doubt about it.

Callum's phone interrupted my self deprecating train of thought as it stared ringing. Turns out it was his dad telling him go go pick up Ezran at his friend Ellis' place on his way back, and with another sudden twist of events it became evident that Callum had to part ways with us at the next crossroads. I was honestly kind of relieved I'm all honestly, but the didn't last long when I realised I was going to be left alone with Claudia. It's not like I didn't like Claudia, I thought she was really nice and was pretty decent at keeping up a conversation when there was something to talk about.

It's just that sometimes she confused me, but it wasn't really a bad thing.

We said our goodbyes to Callum and we parted ways, as we parted I heard Claudia laugh which actually somewhat startled me. "What?" I said simply. "You know, you're kinda strange Rayla" she said with a smile, the soft rasp in her voice so clearly evident when she spoke. Her statement confused me, she was like a puzzle I couldn't solve. "And what does that mean?" I resorted to asking not really sure of what else I could say in this situation. "I don't know..." She said taking a short breath evidently looking for her next words to say. "I can't seem to know what you're thinking!"

Touché my dear Claudia, I could say the same about you. She looked at me as if trying to read my mind, but quickly gave up realising she couldn't do it. We walked in silence most of the way to our respective homes until Claudia once again decided to break the semi-comfortable silence; "say Rayla do you like anyone?" She said, a smug expression on her face as if she was finally getting some information she was dying to get. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but she seemed like she'd be bad at poker. "Why would I tell you that?" Since we had been left to our lonesome I feel like I had only been asking questions. Claudia chuckled, her laugh was actually kinda nice— I think it's the first time I've actually payed attention to it. "Because I'm curious and want to know?" I was zoned out, staring ahead, her laugh playing on a loop again and again in my brain. "Come on! I'll tell you who I like if you tell me who you like!" She ran ahead of me so I would stop walking, she looked me dead in the eye with a serious expression.

She was set on getting to know this, huh?

I felt defeated so I let out a slightly frustrated sigh to tell her I've given up on avoiding her question. "First of all; I know who you like—" she stopped me in the middle of my sentence asking who to confirm that I really knew and wasn't tricking her. "Callum, and second of all; I don't like anyone so even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to tell you who I liked." When I was done I looked at her, studying her reaction. She glanced away and shrugged, I didn't know what it meant but I didn't feel like asking. Anyway, it was true. Well at least that's what I think, I don't think I like anyone at this current point in time so I couldn't tell her even if I wanted to.

We had been standing in the middle of the sidewalk for a good minute now and Claudia didn't look like she was about to move any time soon, luckily there weren't many people around at this time. She visibly pouted "are you sure?" I replied with a single quick nod before putting my hands in my pockets. "You better not be lying! I better not find out that you have a secret crush on my brother!" She said her tone making her sound like she would punch someone if she found out. I couldn't help but let an audible 'ew' escape me before I laughed at my own reaction, it was silly. "Oh god, I could never like that jock" I said once my laugh calmed earning myself a gentle friendly push from Claudia. She was really nice and smart, and not to mention how pretty she was! I could see why Callum liked her. Though I didn't understand why he would waste his time not telling her that when she so obviously liked him back— I felt a chill run down my spine, the thought of them dating just didn't sit quite right with me. It made me feel nauseated, like my stomach had tied itself into a horrible knot. It was the shittiest feeling on earth to say the least.

We walked all the way home in a comfortable silence, the only thing breaking it being cars that passed by us on the odd occasion or the barks of dogs in the distance. I said goodbye to Claudia at her house, I was invited in but declined the offer telling her that Runaan must be waiting for me. She accepted my excuse to go home and laze by myself around the rest of the evening and started walking the short distance home.

Having safely arrived home I tried opening the front door realising it was locked meaning that Runaan wasn't home, surprisingly. It felt like that man never left the house except for work hours.

I quickly grabbed the spare key from underneath the doormat, unlocked the wooden door and got inside, despite it being summer it was starting to get cold outside. If you could call 15°C (59°F) cold. I placed the key back where it was so I wouldn't forget before I got further into the building.

I took a very brief cold shower before changing into one of my many pairs of black leggings and an oversized T-shirt I had stolen from Runaan (he has some pretty cool shirts he didn't wear much). I lazily collapsed onto my neatly made bed, the sheets were soft against my skin. They were also damn warm from me forgetting to turn on the AC in my room before I left this morning.

I'm sure I just rested there, staring at the roof for hours on end before I heard the message notification tone on my phone. It was a very specific annoying tone I had specifically chosen for Callum to know when I should ignore the notifications I got without having to put in the effort to check who it was. Usually I would have ignored it because all he ever did was talk about how great Claudia was. I didn't mind, but his rants lasted what felt like years of my life being wasted on his crush. This time though, I found that I was bored as all hell and I had a feeling he wouldn't rant to me this time.

* * *

 

**Callum**

Did you have fun today?

If you define fun as third wheeling you and Claudia, then yes, I had a ton of fun.

Can you only talk in sarcastic remarks?

Yes.

But seriously, Callum. You don't need my help to talk to Claudia, I really don't understand why you keep inviting me to go places with you guys.

It's been going on since summer started!

I'm sorry?

It's fine, it's not really a big deal. I just don't really get it, dude.

I know you'd like to be alone with her so i don't see why you would invite me in the first place .

You're the one who keeps saying yes

I'd feel bad if I said no?

Why was that a question?

Never mind, anyway it's usually Claudia's idea to have you tag along

Uh yeah right.

* * *

 

I shut off my phone screen and tuned off the sound on the device. I was starting to get tired, also talking to Callum could be a little exhausting, especially when it came to Claudia.

I turned on the AC before snaking my way under my bedsheets. Although I was tired out of my mind I couldn't seem to want to close my eyes to actually sleep. For a while, I'm guessing twenty minutes. I just stared at the roof, Claudia seemed to come to mind naturally. I didn't find it weird that I found myself thinking about her, she often came to mind for some reason. In my mind I started listing good things about her, things that Callum had mentioned in his long rants that I had come to notice as of late. Like the way she 'boops' people's noses when she gets an idea or how when she laughs you can very clearly hear the rasp in her voice, it was very endearing.

I could really see why Callum liked her so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who is doing a longer fic! Get ready for pining Rayla! I hope it goes well! I have rewritten this so many times and I feel like I finally got it right, it might not be the best since I'm just finishing it up now, now being 3am, but I did my best and I was stubborn enough to make myself finish this chapter before I go to bed. Also if you've read my other fanfics you can probably tell that there's a difference, yeah, I wanted to try out writing in first person. Let's see how that goes (mainly gonna be in Rayla's POV though we might get some Claudia POV cameos like in the start). :,) anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that I'll be able to update this once in a while, I can't promise and update schedule


	2. ii

** Rayla **

It had been yet another week. I had spent yet another week following two crushing nerds around. I kept saying yes to their requests. About a week ago Callum told me that it was often Claudias idea to have me tag along. It seemed incredibly unrealistic, but I entertained the thought for a few days and it oddly enough made me want to be around them more. But as time passed I found myself conflicted because I also had an urge to push away from them. It was agonising.

I met with them to go to lunch, it was Friday and at this point it felt like i was only hanging around them because I had nothing better to do. It was a nice day, we decided to go to a local cafe that was run by a mister Ahling. He was a very endearing and gentle man. Although he could seem a little scary at first because of his stature. Neolandia has a very desert-y feel to it. Most of the furniture was tinted in a light wood colour. There were specs of light blues, gold and white throughout the whole establishment. The cherry on top was obviously all of the succulents and cacti that were everywhere. There are other plants I couldn't name, but I could easily guess that they most likely were desert dwelling plants. Overall the setting of the cafe was great, the aesthetic was on point and nothing felt off about it. We ordered our foods and drinks and waited, the whole lunch event was rather uneventful. By the time our meals arrived I was being practically ignored and I was sure that if I got up and left neither of them would notice. Well actually— Claudia might notice. She had actually spoken to me, although her remarks were few and far. I also caught her looking at me a few times, probably checking to see if I was still present. How nice of her.

The instant I finished my lunch I was so frustrated with them that I decided to bid my goodbyes to them and go home. I couldn't stand it anymore. I didn't know exactly why but I knew I didn't want to be around them much longer. If I had stayed for another minute I was sure I would spontaneously combust.

Having left the café I made my way home, the walk felt grossly longer than usual. Maybe it was the heat, it was really warm. I felt so much relief when I remembered that I left the AC on in my room. I couldn't have walked far before I felt like i needed to stop, I let out a sigh gently gripping the collar of my teal cotton blend T-shirt. God as much as I enjoyed the summer I sometimes wondered if I preferred the winter. It's so much easier to escape the cold than the heat. I must have subconsciously closed my eyes while I stood there because I didn't notice I was being approached by a certain young girl and her dog.

"Hey Rayla!" Ellis' cheerful tone rung in my ears, how found she be so giddy in this weather. I greeted her trying to match er excitement but miserably failing. "You out for a walk too?" She inquired equally giddy as earlier. I eyed Ava, her mouth was hanging open like any other dog. I went over to give her a pat on the head, her fur was thick and soft yet incredibly hot to the touch. Oh god did I not envy her. I looked up at Ellis, it was time I actually gave her an answer to her question. "Oh not really, I'm on my way home. I just ate lunch with Callum and Claudia." I told her. She chuckled and started walking because Ava was overly eager to get going again. "Sounds like a pain, Ezran might have told me a few things" she said, of course! Ezran had needed to follow those two dumbasses around before. He was Callum's brother after all, it was inevitable.

"Don't even get me started" I couldn't help but laugh, although they could be pretty insufferable when they were together and it wasn't really fun to talk about how insufferable they were it felt good to get if off my chest. Maybe I needed to start saying no to them, take a break. It sounded like a good idea, yet I didn't want to for some reason. There was something in me that made me want to be around them, but there was also a side of me that told me to not be around them because it genuinely wasn't good for me.

I had walked with Ellis and Ava and 'complaining' so to say about stuff as well as just talking about random things with her that I I hadn't noticed that I wasn't walking the correct direction until Ellis pointed it out. I felt stupid, but it was the first time I actually felt like I was being listened to in a good few days, or weeks. I got distracted and wanted it to last but the thought of the air conditioned rooms in my house were very tempting to me and I went with that option.

Arriving at my front door I found that Runaan was home, he peaked his head out from the entrance of the living room to greet me. "Weren't you supposed to be out all day?" He sounded disappointed, but yet there was a sincereness to his voice. "Nah, I just felt like going home" I shrugged trying not to worry him that I had fought with some of only friends. "Do you feel sick?" He asked sounding concerned, if I was being completely honest with myself I felt sick to my stomach. I had felt nauseated the last week for whatever reason, but it didn't seem like anything serious and I didn't want to worry Runaan out of his mind so I told him I felt fine and headed up to my room on the second floor.

My room was chilly, almost to the point where I considered opening the window to let in some warm air. But I wrapped myself up in a blanket instead. I lazed around in my bed re-watching Naruto shippuden on my laptop, it brought back memories from when I was a kid running ninja style around with those weird whiskers Naruto has on his face drawn on my cheeks with a black sharpie. I wanted to be Hokage too.

By the time I had come to episode 370 (I left off on episode 362 last time I watched, I wrote it down) the sun was starting to set. I took breaks in between episodes here and there, and sometimes I even forced myself to pause in the middle. I didn't like doing that but sometimes it just had to be done.

I was in the middle of Sasuke's flashback when I heard my phone vibrate on my nightstand.

It was Callum, what a surprise.

* * *

**  
Callum**

_Hey Rayla?_  
_Thank you for leaving today_

How rude.  
I can't believe you've done this, I am so sad Callum!  
I am in actual tears.

_No, I didn't say it to be rude I swear!_  
_You're being sarcastic aren't you?_  
_Now I feel like Soren_

lol.

_What I meant was, thank you for letting_  
_me get to have some alone time with_  
_Claudia_  
_Spending time with her alone was nice_

Good for you, also  
you're welcome.

_When I was with her I thought about some_  
_stuff you and Ez have told me and_  
_I thought I should just ask Claudia out_  
_already_

Oh wow, you came up with that just today?

_Haha, very funny Rayla_

* * *

 

I didn't like the text conversation I was having with Callum, it made me feel sick to my stomach. The thought of them dating. The flirting was enough, I don't think I could ever stand watching it, being forced to watch them kiss or hold hands. My soul would rather leave my body.

I didn't want to think about that disaster anymore and resumed watching Naruto. The episode ended and I was quick to put on the next one, that's when I heard my phone again. This time I didn't pause the anime, I refused anyway I was watching the dub so I could just listen. Luckily today wasn't a day I felt like reading subtitles.

* * *

  
Callum

_BTW, I gave Claudia your number_  
_She said she didn't have it so I gave_  
_it to her_  
_I hope you don't mind_  
_Also she told me she might text or_  
_call you today_  
_Just a little heads up, I know_  
_you're quick to block unknown numbers_

* * *

 

He had sent multiple messages after I had grabbed my phone. My instant reaction was a little mad since he didn't ask me but it was nice that he remembered to tell me and besides it was just Claudia so what harm could it do?

But then came the part of a possible phone call from her, the thought made me shudder. I had never been good with phone calls. They tended to stress me out. I was always so awkward I just know anyone who's ever called me could feel the awkwardness trough their devices.

You would've thought phone calls were way less nerve wracking than talking to someone in person, but really they were painstakingly painful to sit trough in my opinion. It was just something about the fact that you wouldn't be able to tell if someone was uncomfortable before it was too late. With text it was easier to tell because often you wouldn't get a reply back.

I did my best to push the thoughts out of my mind. At least she could prepare herself incase she did get a call. I typed out a simple 'thank you for telling me' to Callum and tapped the send button on my screen. The seventeenth opening of Naruto shippuden had just started playing now, it wasn't one of my favourites but it was catchy so I didn't skip it. Just as I had sent my message to him I felt my phone vibrate in my hand and the default iPhone ringtone drowned out the anime I was watching. There was no name displayed, only a number.

I just stared, I let it ring for what most likely was three times before I (very) hesitantly picked up the incoming call and raised the phone up to my ear.

The line was silent I didn't know what to say, or rather my voice was trapped in my throat and I felt like I couldn't say a word. Suddenly i heard a static sound, and an all to familiar voice broke the silence.

"Hello...? Is this Rayla?"

I could feel my breath get caught in my throat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter this time! I did my best, I felt like i was fighting a small writers block when writing this and I doubted I would get past 1k words but I somehow did and I'm content with what I did manage to write. :,)  
> I have a feeling I'm gonna end up making this a little slow burn-y and I have never written anything like that so it's definitely going to be a challenge for me, but I'm determined to do it as I have so many ideas for this and so many plans for future chapters! But it's going to have to take some build up, I really want to establish everyone's relationships to each other before i get to Rayla officially pining and so on so forth. Anyway I hope you're enjoying this fic so far and that you'll want to continue reading the future chapters uvu and I know there aren't many people reading this fic but if anyone has any ideas for what Callum and Claudia could be called in Rayla's contacts I'd love to hear! It would be cool to have them have some funny contact names, haha


	3. iii

** Rayla **

"Hello? Is this Rayla?"

I could feel my breath get caught in my throat when I heard the all too familiar voice. Her voice sounded a little different from what it did in person, but I could clearly tell who it was. This was a situation I really wasn't ready for! I didn't have time to prepare and now I could hardly talk. I mentally slapped myself across the face as hard as I could, I needed to calm down. This was nothing to freak out over.

"Hello?"

The voice questioned again, there was a soft rasp to it and the tone was soft and weary. It was strange to hear Claudia's voice like this, she usually sounded more enthusiastic when she spoke. I stayed silent until I heard her say hello again.

I held my phone at arms length from my face so I could take a breath without it sounding weird on Claudia's end. As I was shortening the distance I gulped trying to open my throat so I could speak.  
"Hello?" I said with the same questioning weary tone Claudia was carrying. It was quiet for a bit and I heard what seemed to be a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god, I thought I had typed the wrong number when I didn't get any replies" I could hear her laugh, her gentle somewhat raspy sounding laugh. What a nice sound it was. "Ah, sorry about that I couldn't hear you!" I tried to sound cool and collected, but I was far from relaxed. My hands felt like they were shaking violently and my muscles had all tensed up. I could clearly hear I was nervous. Claudia could probably hear it too.

"Hope you don't mind that I asked Callum for your number!" I heard her say cheerfully, how did she manage to be so calm? I don't think I would ever properly understand her. "I.. I don't mind! At all!" Did I sound to enthusiastic whilst trying to hide my nerves? The answer was simple, it was a very clear yes because I heard Claudia let out a quick laugh. "What are you doing?" Why did she have to try to keep up the conversation?! Couldn't she just hang up already!? I glanced over at my laptop screen, the anime was still playing. It was nearing the end of the episode. I had totally forgotten I had left it on when my phone started ringing. I gave the spacebar a light tap to pause the episode. "Not much really, I was just watching a show I like." I said plainly, I could have said I was watching Naruto but I didn't want to take the risk of having to explain what it was. It was a pain to do so. Thought I had a feeling Claudia would know. "Really? I thought you would have been up to something much more exciting since you left so urgently today." Jesus, why did she have to bring that up. I again didn't know what to say, I couldn't tell her the reason why I left is because of her and Callum! Callum hardly knew that! Though I'm sure he had an inkling as of to why I left today.

Claudia's words hung in the air as I tried to desperately think of a response that wouldn't sound rude. But the silence was broken by another voice. It came from Claudia's end. It certainly sounded like Soren, he was calling her name from what seemed to be a little distance because his voice was faint. "Soren's calling me down for dinner, I gotta go!" She stopped talking for a split second "would you mind if I texted you later?" I thought about it, what would they even talk about? Now that I thought about it, despite knowing Claudia for a while (not as long as Callum of course) I had had very few chances to speak with her alone. Especially for longer periods of time. "Of course not" I said, my mind was pretty absent at this point though so it felt like I didn't know what I was answering to. "Great I'll—" she got interrupted by her brother calling for her again, "I'll do that then, bye!" Her words were quick and by the time she'd hung up I had hardly had any time to process what she had said. I had hardly started saying 'bye' at that point.

I put my phone down. I stared at the blank screen for a while before really processing what had just happened. I ran trough the events in my head; ok Claudia just called me basically out of nowhere. I sounded like a complete idiot trough the whole conversation. If you could even call it that, Claudia did most of the talking.

Man, I don't think I have ever been that nervous during a phone call.

The whole event felt foreign, and somewhat staged? I haven't ever really thought about giving Claudia my number, the reason being that even if I do consider her a friend I didn't know if exchanging numbers would be important? We didn't talk much outside of classes, if we did it was because Callum was there. Maybe she feels like she should be friendly with me because she likes Callum? Actually that makes a lot of sense... Maybe I should try that too? I did enjoy talking to Claudia after all, or it was more like I enjoyed hearing her talk? Regardless I might have secretly been wanting to talk to her more for a while— a long while in fact.

To be very specific since around January. I don't know what it was that happened but I started noticing her more then. And ever since then I had been noticing more and more stuff about her. Especially the past few weeks. All the things I had noticed were small irrelevant things, but they were all so endearing. So very Claudia, whatever that meant.

Yes, Callum had told me about these things countless times before but I had never really noticed them. And I had never thought about seeking these things out. It was strange, or maybe I was strange? I couldn't tell, but it didn't bother me. Because as a matter of fact I found that I rather li— my train of thought was interrupted by the high pitched messaging tone from my phone.

I picked it up, with bright white numbers my phone screen displayed the time. 10:26pm, was it really that late? Had time passed that quickly? Underneath the time was the notification with the same number that had called me earlier. It was Claudia. I instantly felt a wave of heat rushing to my face, I was just thinking about her and now she sends me a message. It was almost as if she knew. Her message read; 'sorry I didn't message earlier Rayla! Soren decided it was time for a family game night after dinner, haha. You're probably asleep by now aren't you? Well, just letting you know that you can message me whenever!' I could hear her voice resisting the sentences in my head as if she was there with me, I heard her laugh, the perfect pronunciation of every syllable. I wasn't asleep, but I didn't feel like replying. What would I even say? 'Hi Claudia, cool, thanks for telling me that'? Uh yeah, no way. Not happening.

I left the notification unopened and put my phone away besides my bed on my bedside table. Today had been surprisingly eventful. After I came home that is. I had no particular feelings about it as of now. I didn't have time to make up my mind before it got preoccupied with other things. Like the way Claudia said my name, it sounded nice. I like how she says it. Whenever she did say it it felt like an electric current ran trough my body enveloping me in an electric warmth. And the sound kept replaying in my head, thoughts of Claudia filling my headspace to the brim.

I don't think I slept at all that night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this chapter even shorter than the last one? Yeah. Did I get to the point where I think I should end it? Yeah! If I were to try and continue this chapter any further it would probably just be gibberish that was just there to fill out the fic until I got to 2k words. And I don't want that, I don't wanna rush this. I want to take my time and try to make this fic as good quality as possible! (even if I'm bad at writing) Other than that I'm already working on quite a few future chapters (mostly writing down ideas as drafts in my notes etc.) so I'm going to try to stick to an upload schedule that is Monday and Friday! I can't promise I'll always stick to it, but I will certainly try!


	4. iv

**Rayla**

Sometimes I wondered if it was Claudia that made me feel nauseated. The thought came up more often than not whenever Claudia came to mind, but it would fade just as quickly as it came.

Whenever I would think or talk with Claudia I would never feel nausea per say. I couldn't explain the feeling I got, but it certainly wasn't an inherently bad one.

Other times I thought it was Callum's fault, but if it was I would have been feeling sick since the day I met him. I hadn't, which disappointed me because then I would have an excuse to ignore him when I felt like it. If I'm being honest though I'm also glad it isn't his fault because he is my bestfriend and I know it sounds dumb, but I care about him.

I often came to the conclusion that seeing them together was what made me feel sick. But still I didn't really know why because why would it make me feel sick in the first place. I could have been imagining it, or I could actually have a deadly illness—.

I shrugged off the thought, I didn't want to dwell on it too much.

I turned over in my bed to face the blank white wall. I felt like I had been staring at that same spot on the ceiling for way too long now. I probably had. I definitely had. Because when I blinked my eyes hurt, the stinging sensation was almost unbearable. I tried blinking to make the sensation go away. It didn't help much, it almost made it feel worse. Had I really just stayed up all night? I don't remember sleeping, but who even remembers sleeping in the first place? Certainly not me. Something kept me up all night, my brain had been overly active the whole night. I had felt restless the whole time, Claudia had kept me up.

Well it wasn't Claudia herself, it's not like she had been sending me messages that kept me awake all damn night. It was fully my own fault, I let Claudia invade my brain. I kinda wanted her too, I liked it when she was there.

If I had said that out loud I would have sounded completely insane. God was I especially glad that Claudia couldn't heat it, I can't even begin to imagine how she would react if she knew. I would rather not know.

Even so I was so incredibly preoccupied with her recently I couldn't think of a moment when she had not been on my mind. Well I probably could, but even if I was doing something else I knew thoughts of her were lurking. Waiting for a moment to strike.  
"Really, why can't I get her out of my mi—"

I swear whenever I would talk to myself out loud I would be interrupted by my phone, maybe people could actually hear me talking. I was being spied on! I just know it!  
I lazily reached over to my phone, the screen was so incredibly bright that it made my eyes sting again. I squinted at it trying to make out the screen so I could lower the brightness a little. It took me about a minute to do so, it was harder than it seemed, and I also from outsider perspective most likely looked dumber than I thought I did holding my phone at arms length over my head grunting at it.

My arm was tired so I defeatedly lowered it to my side and sat up. I was hunched over my phone as I stared intensely at the screen. I had gotten a new message from _'Black Bird'_ , that was Claudia I had named her that in my contacts last night at some point. The reason for it being that she had black hair and the way it freely swayed when a gust of wind got a hold of it reminded me of how birds fly gracefully trough the sky. I recalled also changing Callum's name to 'Mud Face' last night, because he once fell into a huge pile of mud and got it all over his dumb face.

I read the message without opening the notification, it read: "Me and Callum are going to the park today, I wondered if you would want to tag along?" I thought about it for a few seconds. Would I really want to go to the park with them? The answer was both yes and no, but I felt as if I needed a break from them. Not as singular people but them as a 'unit' so to say.

With a sigh I politely declined her invitation saying I had plans to go fencing with Runaan today. I think I might have worded it too formally out of nerves, but it would have to do; I had already sent it anyway.

I looked away from my phone for a quick minute, I expected a message to come from Claudia pretty quick. She seemed like the type to reply quickly, but when I didn't head the high pitched notification sound I got a little stressed that she had left me on read.

Opening up the messages app I saw that she hadn't even seen my message and I was filled with the relief of not bing left on read. While I was on the app I decided to send another message to hopefully sound less formal.

* * *

**Black** **Bird**

_Me and Callum are going to the park today, I wondered if you would want to tag along?_

I can't today, I promised Runaan I would go practice my fencing with him today.  
But, maybe another time? (:

* * *

 

I wasn't a fan of using emoticons in conversation, Callum was though and they had grown on me a little over time. Not to the point where I would use them often, Callum would point out how I would use them when I was nervous or stressed about something.

I remember when we had out midterms and he kept pointing out how I was using way too many emoticons in my texts. I did not enjoy looking back at those messages, they were so over the top flooded with emoticons in every sentence that it could make anyone cringe if they saw them.

Callum thought it was hilarious though.

I heard the rumbling your stomach made when you were hungry. In all honestly that sound was quite a gross one, more annoying than gross; but gross nonetheless.

I threw my dark green bedsheets off of myself and finally got up. I realised that even if I had been looking at my phone a lot until now I hadn't really paid attention to the clock. I urged to check, but I did not want to know just how many hours I had been awake.

I threw my phone which for some reason I was still holding in my hand onto my bed, I didn't need it now. I was actually quite scared to look at it...

"Runaan?" I said, peeking my head out trough the door to my room. When I didn't get a reply I automatically assumed he was sleeping. I made a mental note to raise my voice just in case that was the issue; "Runaan? You here?" Louder this time. I still didn't get a reply, by now I had started to head downstairs. I searched every room on the first floor and I couldn't find him anywhere. "He might have gone out then?"

He obviously went out! He isn't here Rayla! Of course he went out! I mentally yelled at myself. Guess I'll have to make my own breakfast then. I wanted bacon and eggs, but mine could never measure up to Runaan's so I ended up with toast. For two reasons. Number one being I was too tired to make anything other than toast and number two being that I checked and we didn't have bacon. Once I eat I'll take a nap, I deserve it.

I finished my meal. I could have certainly made some more, but I was still tired and didn't feel like doing much. Especially now— I was fixated on going back to my room to take my very well deserved nap!

"Maybe I _should_ ask Runaan to take fencing again, it has been awhile..." I was halfway up the stairs when the thought occurred. I was very much out of training, but it could help take my mind of things. Also I found it a fun pastime even if Runaan always beat me, I had won once. I know he wouldn't admit it, but I know he let me win because I was getting really annoyed from losing round after round. He told me I was good though, compared to others my age not him. He has like 20 years more fencing experience! I could never compare my skills to his!

I kicked open the door to my room. Actually it wasn't strong enough to be considered a proper kick. It was more like a slightly violent nudge at the door with my foot.

I collapsed onto my bed. The sheets were warm from the sun hitting them directly trough the window. I drew one of the curtains that was closest to me shut to keep the rays of sun away. I could feel an object under my stomach, I felt it as I fell in fact. It was my phone which I had thrown on there before heading downstairs. Laying on it was uncomfortable so I reached for it, I needed to turn off the sound anyway.

I yawned observing a new message from Claudia that had come in just about twenty minutes ago.

* * *

**Black** **Bird**

_Fencing? Really? That's so neat!_  
_I didn't know you could fence Rayla!_  
_Could I tag along to your practice one time? Soren used to be really into fencing so I'm somewhat curious about it, haha!_

Oh, sure. Next time I make plans to go I'll tell you so you can come with us.

* * *

I put my phone away after turning off the sound so I didn't keep myself awake by getting distracted by it.

"I _really should_ ask Runaan to take me fencing again."

I don't know how long it took me to finally fall asleep after I collapsed into bed. I doubted it took me more than a few minutes after I shut my eyes.  
The nap was great, I don't think I have had such a great nap in ages! I would usually keep waking up and have trouble falling asleep again during my naps. For once! I had been blessed with the gift of a good nap! Hallelujah!

Was I overreacting? Probably. I had absolutely no clue about how long I had slept, but just as I did not want to know hoe long I had been awake I also did not want to know how long my 'nap' lasted. I could probably guess though.

I heard a door get shut close with an odd amount of force. Runaan probably just got home, he was always so violent with the front door. I had always wanted to hear him say something cheesy like 'oh I don't know my own strength' or something along those lines. He would never though, he was not the type too, but maybe it was just because I never asked about why he did that.

Nah, he was too much of a grumpy old man for that.

"Rayla!" I almost fell down the stairs, I tried to sneak up on him. His senses were superhuman, I swear he would make such a great assassin. I had seen him play assassins creed before(I made him play a part I just couldn't get past), he was good. Too good, it was scary.

"Oh, hi Runaan!" I had proceeded to walk down the stairs like a regular person to walk up to him. "May I ask why you were sneaking so badly down the stairs?" He had this smug look on this face like he could see right trough me. "You know, walking down the stairs?" I shrugged sheepishly trying to match my expression with his. Runaan scoffed, for a second I thought I saw a smile. "Was there something you wanted to ask me, Rayla?" He did see right trough me, he might have been uncle, but damn did he know me better than myself. "How do you do that?!" I blurted out with so much confusion that it felt like it oozed out of all of my pores.

He started to walk toward the living room, I followed suit so I could actually ask him what I was planning to. "anyway.." I cleared my throat as I watched him sit down on his usual spot on the couch. "I was wondering if you could take me fencing again." Runaan had opened the newspaper that he had brought with him. I didn't notice that he had it on hand. He looked at me from over the top of the newspaper before completely letting it fall to his lap. "I thought you said you wanted to take a break from practice over summer?" he inquired, I did say that. But can't a girl change her mind every now and then? Plus it wasn't a bad thing that I wanted to go. "I just thought it would be a good idea to go once at least." He raised a brow at me, he didn't actually say it but I could hear him say 'Rayla' in that typical dad tone.

I sighed, "Ok, geez" I let myself fall onto the couch next to Runaan. "I might have told Claudia that I couldn't hang out with her and Callum that I was gonna go fencing today." I crossed my arms eyeing Runaan to see his reaction. This time I was sure I saw a smile emerge on his face. "And what does that have to do with your sudden want to actually go to practice?" He had lifted the newspaper again and it covered most of his face so I couldn't see it anymore. "Claudia might have asked to tag along with me to practice" I stopped looking at Runaan and instead faced the black screen of the TV. I felt myself sliding down the couch, I wanted to become part of it. "And I might have said yes?" I might have not been looking in Runaan's direction, but I could feel his stare on me. I heard him let out a sigh, though he sounded like he wanted to laugh at me. Did I say something that he found funny?

"Of course, well I was gonna go on Tuesday if you want you and that Claudia girl can tag along." He put down the newspaper on the coffee table, what did he mean 'of course'? I genuinely didn't get it, but the way he said it sounded odd? I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was just something about his tone that made it feel like he wasn't the one who said those words. I shouldn't let it bother me.

We ended up leaving it at that. About an hour later Runaan asked me to go buy some groceries, he could have easily done that himself, but I still listened to him. Runaan gave me the money I needed and I went off. The closest supermarket closed early on Saturdays so I had to be quick if I was to get there in time.

I somehow got there just in time. Outside the store I just happened to see a very familiar dog, she didn't notice me though. I stepped inside, getting instantly overwhelmed by cold air coming from inside the store. It sent a chill down my spine.

I walked straight to the aisle where the cereal was because I wanted Frosties, Runaan wouldn't mind if I got one thing that wasn't on the list he had given me. On the way there I had to walk trough the candy aisle where I saw three familiar faces. "Ez, I haven't seen you in a while." I said as I got closer to the trio. They all turned to look at me almost simultaneously, did they rehearse that? "Rayla!" Ezran and Ellis said in their usual cheery tones. Aanya simply smiled at me, she was really mature for her age. She acted more like an adult than Soren, and he had a drivers license. I talked with them for a bit, Ezran talked about how his pet toad Bait had become increasingly more grumpy since his family adopted a puppy a few weeks ago. "I think he might be jealous!" He visibly pouted, "he has nothing to be jealous about! Zym really wants to be friends with him, he could try a bit harder to get along." He continued, regardless I could see why Bait could have been a little jealous. A new pet is bound to get a lot of attention, so it did make some sense. "He'll get around to that eventually, you'll see." I said with a small laugh escaping me.

"Hey, I need to finish shopping so I'll see you guys around?" I said and we bid our goodbyes, they had to be home soon, I knew they had curfews. When the trio had started to walk away I remembered what I had told Claudia earlier. "Ez! don't tell Callum you saw me today! I told Claudia I was doing something today, I don't want your brother questioning my alibi." I heard the kids laugh before Ezran said 'ok' as a response and leaving with his friends.

I quickly finished my shopping before the store closed and headed home. I would have liked to say that the sun was setting by now, but the sun stayed up way too long during summer. The instant I got into the house I was so done with the sun I reevaluated my choices to go fencing next week.

I had a brief conversation with Runaan about why it took me so long to go buy groceries. I did my best to try helping him make dinner and we ate in the comfortable silence that was always present when we ate.

I might have not done much today, but I really felt exhausted for some reason. Getting up to my room I think I could have fallen sleep right then and there, but I checked my phone because I hadn't since I took my nap earlier. I had gotten one new message from Claudia just a few minutes ago.

* * *

**Black** **Bird**

_Great! Just tell me when and I'll make sure to not make other plans that day._

Im going this coming Tuesday, do you have time then?

_I do! Can't wait!_

* * *

 

Her reply came almost instantly. Almost as if she had been waiting. But then again, she did seem like the type who would reply quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I wouldn't be able to finish this?? It ended up being longer than I had expected it would be.  
> I usually land around 2k words but when I got to that point with this chapter I just couldn't end it there so 3k words is fine! It's kinda filler, but I promise more 'exiting' stuff will happen in the next chapter, maybe— could be the one after that I don't know I'm just going with the flow at this point, I have plans for this I just don't know when I'll execute them,,  
> Anyway big thanks to Casually_Of_A_Fandom_War for suggesting the names for Rayla's contacts and to Hart_Merry_Man for planting the seed of Rayla and Runaan fencing in my brain.
> 
> Also might narrow it down to one update a week (Fridays) because I have a lot of stuff going on this month. My exams are already starting and I'm doing a lot of prep for conventions. :,^)


	5. v

** Rayla **

I dropped my phone, I didn't want to listen anymore. My heart wouldn't be able to handle it, it was aching so bad.

"Rayla? You there?"

I was so far away in my own thoughts I could hardly hear the voice emitting from my phone. I heard 'hellos' being repeated faintly as they grew more and more frantic and concerned.

Gosh I just couldn't stand that voice anymore— I hung up. Before I knew it I felt tears forming in my eyes, it felt gross.

You might be wondering why I'm the living hell I'm crying, well obviously I'm going to tell you; so it all started last night at three am when Callum decided to be an asshole and wake me up at 3am.  
Why he suddenly decided to be up that late was beyond me, he was an early bird— not a night owl like me. Anyway I, being the good friend I am decided to see what was going on.

I was blinded by the bright screen of my phone, but trough my squinted eyes I could clearly see that I had gotten a plethora of texts from him.

* * *

  
**Mud Face**

_Ok Rayla listen to me here_  
_I'm gonna ask Claudia our tomorrow_  
_I've decided!_  
_I want to do it before I leave to go see my aunt_  
_with Ez_  
_I'm gonna do it!! I'm not making up an_  
_excuse to avoid it this time!_  
_I'm prepared for everything_  
_I just need to tell her, I don't think it's good_  
_for my soul not to_

Jesus fuck Callum, just send one message.  
You actually woke me up, just go do your  
thing I guess. Have fun  
I'm going back to bed  
Night'

 

* * *

 

And that was pretty much the whole conversation, I hadn't really acknowledged what he had told me because he always found a way out of doing that. He'd tried so many times in the time we had been friends and he had just never worked up enough courage to do so. Plus I was incredibly tired and it generally just sounded like late night ramblings. So in turn I just decided to ignore it, it would happen anyway, right?

I didn't let the thought invade my head, and went to sleep in a semi bad mood from being awoken at such an ungodly hour.

When I woke up again it was at a more appropriate time for a Sunday. 10am. When I woke I was still tired though, I also felt like I had a throbbing headache the instant I sat up in bed. But the uncomfortable sensation went away relatively quick.

I'm pretty darn sure I had a nightmare, I couldn't remember it clearly. Whenever I tried to fully remember it all my brain could produce was blank space. What little I did know about it though was the dreadful feeling that it had given me in the moment.

Sooner or later I gave up on trying to remember at all. It was too tedious and I wasn't exactly generating any satisfactory results.

Other that that Sunday was overall very uneventful. I watched some Naruto and tried to look for some other shows to watch after deciding not to rewatch Sailor Moon for what might have been the thirty fifth time.  
I also got a few texts from Claudia. She was freaking out about how cute Zym was. She wouldn't stop sending me pictures of him or them together. I had to admit as cute as Zym was whenever she was in frame Claudia was what captivated me. Sure, it was somewhat blurry selfies of her and the puppy, but even when she was blurry she caught my eye. I honestly couldn't decide who was cuter, her or the puppy.

Though she did send me a picture of the small dog in a light blue dragon costume and I automatically clenched my heart, it was the most adorable thing I had seen in a good while.

I tried to get Runaan to play some video games with me too, specifically Smash Bros. It was one of the only games I could beat him in. He reluctantly agreed, I beat him a few times until he told He he didn't want to play anymore. I doubt he was even trying, he would usually put up more of a fight.  
Then again he wasn't ever a big fan of brawl games, he was more of a fan of strategy or story based games.

Anyway I played games with him a few hours and then I went back to watching anime.

We later ate dinner and Runaan told me about when we were leaving on Tuesday so I could text Claudia about it.  
We were leaving surprisingly earlier than I had imagined. The closest fencing centre that was open was one or two hours away. I had a feeling he just wanted to avoid his ex that worked in the fencing centre that was only a thirty minute drive from our house. Runaan called him 'true evil' or something, he couldn't be that bad could he?

I never actually met him so I didn't know, I sometimes wondered it Runaan had made him up. No idea why he would do that, but I genuinely thought he was a figment of Runaan's sad imagination. That was until he showed me a picture— but that's a whole different story that I don't know the details of.

The hours passed as I watched JoJo's bizarre adventures, someone had recommended it to me and I ended up giving it a shot. It was good, maybe not completely 'my taste' but I liked it so far.  
I had texted Claudia to tell her when we would be at her house on Tuesday. She replied as enthusiastically as ever to it within the span of a few minutes.

By 7pm Callum had bombarded my phone with notifications. I didn't read them, well not all of them. I read a few. He sent a picture of him an Claudia, they were both smiling— Claudia was holding Zym. They looked disgustingly good next to each other. I knew that if Callum did ask her out and that if they started dating I should be happy for them, but why was it that the thought made my heart hurt and my stomach turn inside out?

I decided to set my phones to silent to avoid hearing the sound of continuous messages.

An hour or so passed and I hadn't heard a single notification come in. Neither were there any displayed on the lock screen when I out of habit reached for the device to check the time.

I switched the silent mode off. It seemed reasonable to do so now.

Not even five seconds after I switched off the silent mode I got a call. The sound startled me so much I almost dropped my phone.

It was Callum, of course. What did he want now? He never called so it was probably something important.

After accepting the call I didn't even get to say hello before Callum started talking.

"I did it!" He said, he sounded excited— yet somewhat distant when he spoke.

"Am I not even getting a hello?" I said, the sarcasm evident in my voice. I clearly heard a laugh from his end before he replied with a hello of his own, matching my tone. "Now Callum, what did you do?" I asked curiously. I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about, I could probably have figured it out if I thought about it hard enough, but what was the point of he'd end up telling me anyway?

"Ok, so remember last night when I told you I would finally ask Claudia out?" He said, he strangely enough sounded less enthusiastic than I he usually sounded when he talked about Claudia. Regardless I laughed a little "let me guess you—" he didn't let me finish my sentence.

"I actually did it."

The words echoed in my head for a second. He did what? He was kidding, right? He had to be! He always ended up being too awkward to tell her.

I took a deep breath trough my nose, "r.. really?" I asked I had some trouble getting the word out. I was still thinking about what he said, it didn't leave my head.

My chest was aching, it was so unbearable. I bit my lip as a desperate attempt to make it stop. It didn't do shit. "Yeah, actually she said—" he started, I knew what he was gonna say and I didn't want to hear it. "I know what she said." The words were so hard to say, they were getting stuck and my voice felt like it had left me. Did I sound mad? I felt like I did.

"Oh then she told you?" He stopped for a second, I wanted to throw my phone, but it was as if my body was frozen. "Well that's good then—" at this point I wanted it to stop. I wanted Callum to stop talking.

I sat there for a while with my phone pressed up against my ear. I listened to Callum speak, but I didn't actually hear any of it. It was just faint noise to me.

At some point he had stopped actually taking and just stared asking if I was still there.

I dropped my phone, I didn't want to hear his dumb voice anymore. I didn't want to hear him say her name another time. My heart wouldn't be able to handle it, it was aching so bad.

"Rayla? You there?"

I was so far away in my own thoughts I could hardly hear the voice emitting from my phone. I heard 'hellos' being repeated faintly as they grew more and more frantic and concerned.

I couldn't stand it anymore, hanging up was my only option at that point.

My heart was aching, the sound of my heartbeat was all I could hear. The tears were slowly but surely running down my cheeks.

Claudia filled my headspace. Free frames of her smile that had been saved deep in my subconscious practically appeared before me. It made my head throb and my heart ache more.

Why did she make me feel like this? For once I wanted her to not be invading my mind like this.

The tears kept on coming, seemingly with no end.

I thought of the way I had seen her look at Callum and it mad my head spin. Oh how I wished she would look at me like that. Why couldn't she just look at _me_ like that and not _him?_

Was this jealousy? It was wasn't it? I had never experienced it to this extent before, it was such a horrible feeling. I wanted to be mad at them, but I couldn't find the strength to actually be and it pissed me off.

I especially wanted to be mad at Claudia, for making me feel like this in the first place. But I just couldn't, I liked her too much to be mad at her. Her overall existence right now made me feel an unbearable anger as well as an unbearable sadness.

How could I be mad at her though? When it was so obviously my own fault for catching these dumb feelings in the first place.

I knew Callum liked her, yet I let myself become equally— if not more, captivated with her as him.

* * *

 

** Claudia **

I had gotten home not much more than thirty minutes ago.

I hardly talked to Soren or Dad when I got back, but the 'I'm tired' excuse seemed to work.

I really wondered if I should have said something different... I felt bad for letting him down like that.

He was really nice and I had genuinely really liked him that way too, for a long while. At first it saddened me quite a bit, but I guess I had convinced myself that he didn't have any interest in me a while back.

That's when Rayla had started catching my eye.

I think Turing him down was a good thing. I obviously felt bad, and all that. But it was better than feeling like I was lying to Callum, it would be so much worse for him then, and I didn't want that.

He didn't deserve that.

He's a great boy. He deserves happiness and love, and those thing I don't think I would be able to give him without lying both to myself and him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A N G S T???? It pained me to write this, and as much as it pained me I also enjoyed writing it. :,) Im not used to writing angst tbh, but I tried!! Haha,,, I have to say that my friend was what made me write the first part, the reason I actually ended up putting that dumb meme in there was to lighten the mood some because I knew I would just crap out a bunch of angst at some point during this chapter. And I also managed to push in the meme of Aaravos being Runaan's ex, lol. I wonder if anyone actually caught on to that.


	6. vi

**Rayla**

I don't know how long I cried. Runaan had come in to check on me, but I pretended I was asleep. To no avail though as I had a hard time hiding my obnoxious sobs. He told me to call for him if I wanted to talk. I didn't say anything and he left, respecting my privacy.

Callum had tried to call me a few times, and so had Claudia. Callum had probably told her I started acting weird during our initial call. I didn't pick up any of the calls from either of them, most likely resulting in them worrying about me, which I didn't want but knew it was inevitable. I had received a plethora of texts from the both of them as well, which I didn't read.

I just kept ignoring them for the rest of the evening.

I think around 2am I had stopped crying, probably because I fell asleep. I got out of my bed and reluctantly headed towards Runaan's room. Last time I had gone to his room this late was when I was five and woke up crying from a nightmare. I was probably too old to sleep in the same room as my parental figure, but I felt an immediate need for comfort. And Runaan was the only person I felt comfortable being around or even just talking to now.

I knocked gently on his door, luckily he was awake and he let me in. I pulled him into a hug I so desperately needed. The embrace gave me the warmth and comfort that I had been longing for for the past hours. He didn't say anything, just accepted what was going on. I didn't really want to talk, and if I did I wouldn't want to go into detail. He must've picked up on that because all he said was, "I'm here for you, ok" in a hushed gentle tone that was incredibly rare for him.

I think he knew what was going on, he had a way of knowing things. He could tell what I was thinking without me telling him, parental instinct perhaps? It was a little scary, but it was good because he knew when he could and should pry for information and when he shouldn't.

I don't know if Runaan slept at all. When I woke up he wasn't there, but I could hear the rustling of plates and such in the kitchen downstairs.

I lazily got out of Runaan's bed. It was so big, I wanted a queen sized bed all to myself too. If only there was space in my room.

I turned the corner peering into the kitchen, "Rayla, how are you feeling today?" He asked, concern evident in his tone, but his face was full of calm. I grunted and shrugged at him. "I don't know.." I said quietly heading to take a seat at my usual spot by the kitchen table. "I feel tired an sick," I sighed placing my arms on the table in front of me and then my head on top of them again.

I didn't know how else to describe how I was feeling, I guess I mainly just needed time to think about it. As much as I wanted to avoid it I knew I would need to face it sooner or later.

"Well if you feel sick then we don't have to go fencing tomorrow."

Shit, I had totally forgotten about that. I kinda didn't want to go anymore, but I had promised Claudia. I knew seeing her would upset me, yet I still wanted to see her.

I raised my head a little seeing Runaan place my food in front of me. "Can I let you know by tonight if I still feel like I can go or not?" I said, my words were muffled by my arms. Hopefully Runaan understood me. It seemed like he did, he nodded at me.

Breakfast went by fast, not much talking as per usual. I instinctively headed to my room. I collapsed onto my bed and hugged my pillow tightly. I couldn't help but stare at the phone on my nightstand, I was urging to check it.

After what felt like three hours of non stop saying at it in silence I reached over to it. I tried turning it on, it was dead. That made me feel relieved somehow. I plugged it into the charger and waited a few seconds for the charging icon appeared on the dark screen before pulling it away.

I reached for my laptop, I wanted to put on some anime to distract myself for a bit.

I sat in bed pretty much immobilised for a few hours after getting completely sucked into the story of 'Shiki'. I had found the anime while scrolling trough the anime list on the website I was watching on. It was surprisingly good, it had twists and an air of mystery to it which I very much enjoyed. I did like shounen anime more, but this was pretty good for a horror anime.

By episode ten I needed to use the bathroom, I had to give in to my bladder and go. I got up and started heading towards the upstairs bathroom, going downstairs seemed like too much of a bother.

On my way back to my room I heard Runaan say something and then close what I simply assumed was the front door.

I was walking past the stairs when I saw him starting to head up. "Great, Rayla" he stated in his usual matter of fact tone. "Callum was just here." I could feel myself shudder hearing the words being said. "And..?" I asked wearily, and patiently waiting for a response from him. "He asked if you were ok and if he could see you." Of course he did, that was a classic Callum move. "Ok?" I inquired simply prompting a response from the man.

"I just told him that you felt sick and needed some rest today." I smiled at Runaan, bless him.

"Thanks Runaan, I'll text him— he can be such a worry wart." I laughed, I think I was starting to feel better. More or less, not really. I didn't particularly feel much better, but having some time to do anything but think about them had helped collect my thoughts a little, somewhat.

When I got back into my room my phone was almost fully charged. I decided I should text Callum now. It was for the best. He always overreact about the smallest stuff. The faster I let him know I was fine the better.

When I grabbed my phone I saw the countless notifications form last night that had accumulated on my lock screen. The sheer amount of text that had been stacked together was honestly a little concerning.

I managed to read a few recent ones. I refused to open or read any others though. 

While I was scrolling trying to find Callum in my contacts I got a new incoming message. From Claudia.

* * *

 

**Black Bird**

Hey, Rayla Callum told me you were sick so I just wanted to check if you were ok.

And if we're still on for tomorrow.

I'm fine, I just suddenly got a horrible stomachache last night. I just need a little rest.

I'll most likely be fine tomorrow.

That's great, I hope you feel better. <3 

Thanks, Claudia :)

* * *

 

The little heart Claudia put at the end of her text made my heart want to leap out of the flesh suit I called my body. It made me nervous. I contemplated putting one at the end of my text too. I didn't. Felt like it would be too much in a way?

I quickly sent Callum a message too so he would stop worrying. I had a feeling Claudia would tell him I had a brief text conversation with her tough. The chance of that was high. Very in fact.

I deep down wanted to ignore both Claudia and Callum. At least for a while. But knowing Callum and his persistence that was unlikely. I'd end up being around them somehow. I just have to live with it I guess. Try to be happy for them. Actually I think I was? But at the same time I was incredibly distraught, and confused. 

Anyway, what I feel will go away, right? If I just give it time. If I ignore it for long enough I bet it will all disappear and I'll be fine being around them! Starting tomorrow! I will do my best to cheer them on.

"Runaan!" I yelled, I wasn't in the mood to leave my bed. I heard a faint answer from him and then steps approaching quickly up the stairs. The door flew open making me jump. "Careful with the door, dude" I laughed. "What is it Rayla? Do you need anything?" He was sincere in his way of speech. "Not really" I started changing my position to be sitting crosslegged on the mattress. "Just wanted to let you know I still want to go tomorrow." He smiled. He actually genuinely smiled, it was there. On his face, and I actually witnessed it. Never thought I would see such a thing my whole life.

He gave me a pat on the head, "great! I expect you to be up bright and early tomorrow morning." He said smile still plastered on his face. I simply nodded, and he left. That was strange. I found comfort in it though. 

It got me a little excited to go tomorrow actually.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yee yee another chapter,,, were approaching stuff I have been plaining for this since before I started writing it!! I'm so excited to actually write those things. It isn't even something that exciting but I'm excited none the less, haha. I think this pic will have at least 10 chapters, but I don't know, probably won't be longer than 25 knowing me :,^)


	7. vii + viii

** Rayla **

I was rudely awakened by both Runaan and my alarm. Suddenly I regretted all of my life choices. There was nothing worse than waking up before 9 AM. Especially when you don't need to actually wake up that early.

With a groan I rolled out of bed. I did ask Runaan for 5 more minutes multiple times before actually doing so though. Needless to say he didn't give me 5 more minutes of sleep.

I got into some comfortable clothes. A pair of my favourite leggings and a tank top. I also threw in a thin sweater on for good measure. Even if it was summer, it was always a little chilly in the morning.

My hair, was a mess. I tried setting it up in a ponytail, but that just made it worse. "Runaan!" I shouted as I more or less ran down the stairs. I was met with a simple turn of his head and a raised brow. "Could you braid my hair for me?" I inquired hoping for a yes. I would do it myself, but I wasn't very good at braiding. Especially not at braiding my own hair.  He nodded. I handed him the hair ties I had in hand and let him get to work.

"There you go."

I looked into the nearby mirror. Damn was Runaan good at braiding. I was always astonished by how good he was at it. The braids he did could well hold for a few days. Yes they'd get messy, but they still somehow would stay intact.

I touched the braids with my hands and smiled. "Thanks Runaan!" I turned to him, he looked content with himself. He was definitely admiring his work.

"Come on now, let's eat so we can leave." I obediently did as I was told and headed to the kitchen. The plates were neatly placed on the mahogany table. On this of the plates were golden coloured french toast— The whole room had a faint sweet scent to it.

I think ate a little quicker than usual, probably wasn't good for me, but, oh well.  
I ran upstairs excitedly to get my phone and headphones. As I sat myself into the backseat of the car and fastened my seatbelt I made sure to tell Claudia we were on our way.

Runaan stuffed the trunk of the black Toyota Prius with a black Adidas bag that contained a change of clothes for the both of us and towels etc. For after the training session.  
Runaan got into the driver seat and started the car, almost driving the car the wrong way as he'd forgotten Claudia was coming with us. It was kind of funny.

We— or rather Runaan pulled up into the driveway of Claudia's rather big house. Had it been a little bigger it could've been considered a small mansion.  
I unfastened my seatbelt and jumped out of the vehicle. I left the door open behind me. I ran up to the front door and knocked three times on the wooden door excitedly. It didn't take long before Soren opened the door. He had a scowl plastered on his face as he looked at me. "Uh, is Claudia home?" I asked. He just looked at me. Scowl still on his face.

His constant stare was starting to get to me. He must've noticed because his expression softened. "Claudia!" He had turned his head before calling her name. "Your gir—" a pale hand covered his mouth, it was Claudia. She had this nervous expression on her face. The look faded quickly and she shot Soren a stern look.

"Ew! Soren! Seriously?!" She exclaimed, rubbing her hand on her pant leg. She looked like she was holding back a laugh. Soren snickered "as I was saying, Claudia—" he crossed his arms lightly. "Your friend is here." He turned his back to me. As he passed Claudia he elbowed her in the arm with a laugh as disappeared into the house.

I stood there in awe. What just happened? What was Soren about to say? Did he just lick Claudia's hand? Was this normal for them? Sibling stuff... maybe?

Claudia let out a sheepish laugh, she'd placed her hand on her neck. Scratching it gently. "Don't mind him! He says weird stuff sometimes!" She said, i was confused. I didn't even know what Soren was gonna say, but I brushed it off. "Oka—" a loud gasp stopped my sentence.

I instinctively took a short step back. Claudia grabbed my hands and got a little too close for comfort.  
Heat rushed to my face with an ungodly speed. I was looking into her eyes. They were sparkling in the sunlight, and her smile could light up a dark room at midnight during winter.

It made my hear mad, I thought it would leap out of my chest any second. My heart was beating so hard and rapidly I was convinced that she could hear it.  
The thought just made me more nervous.

How long was she gonna make me stay like this?!

"Cute braid!" Her gentle voice traveled through my ears making them ring. What..? My braids? Cute?  
My face must have been redder than Mrs. Fareeda's (our geography teacher) hair.

One of my hands managed to escape Claudia's graso and reached for my hair. "T.. Thanks.." I looked down trying to escape her gaze. "Runaan braided it..." My voice was weak, it kept getting caught in my throat. Without noticing, I had started fidgeting with the loose end of one of my braids.

Claudia held my other hand for a few seconds more. She let go and moved them up to my braids, inspecting them. Her touch lingered on my hand. It felt warm.

By the time she took a step back I had gotten used to being so close. I kinda wanted to remain like that. Even if it was for just a little bit longer. A few seconds. "You should have Runaan do your hair more!" She smiled, stepping out of the house. Closing the door behind her. "It looks, _very_ nice." Her voice was sweet and sincere. I must have been imagining things because I swear she put an emphasis on 'very'.

I said thanks, and we headed towards the car. We had left Runaan waiting for too long already.

I let Claudia get into the car from the already open door to the back seat and closed the door after her. I proceeded to run to the other side to get in. Once again Runaan started the engine and we were off. After all of us had our seatbelts on that is.

I think we'd been in the car for approximately fifteen minutes. I hadn't as much as looked in Claudia's general direction. I couldn't bring myself to, my heart wouldn't be able to take it.

I glanced over from the corner of my eye. She was looking out the window. Leaning against her head against the door, admiring the rapidly passing scenery. I was instantly mesmerised. How and why was she so pretty? I looked on until she noticed and med my gaze. It almost made me jump out of my seat. "Rayla?" She said plainly, sitting up straight as she looked at me.

"Oh! Uh..." I fidgeted with my phone in my hands. "Yeah!" I said mainly to myself as an idea popped up in my head. "I... uh, was wondering if you'd like to listen with me?" I reached into my pocked to grab my earbuds. Surprisingly they weren't tangled. Well, not very. I looked at her with anticipation.

"Sure!" She smiled at me. She unfastened her seatbelt and sat herself in the middle seat of the car. She refastened her belt and reached her hand to me. I gave her the right earbud and put the left one in my ear. "Don't make fun of my music taste, Callum does that enough already." Even if he was the one who showed me most of the songs on my playlist. The statement earned me a laugh from Claudia. "I won't, don't worry" she laughed again elbowing me gently in the arm.

I plugged in the earbuds and put my Spotify playlist on shuffle.

* * *

 

**Cool with You**  
Her's  
**0:04** ⚪ **─────────────────── 6:12**  
❐ **◄◄** ⠀ **▐▐** ⠀ **►►** ⠀⠀⠀⊏⊐

* * *

 

"Oh! I know this one!" Excitement was clearly evident in Claudia's voice. It was cute. She started humming along to the song for the entirety of the first verse and chorus. She then started silently singing along. Her singing voice was soft, her rasp was very evident as she sung. There was something very charming about it though.

I listened intently to her as she silently sung. She went back to humming. What a pleasant sound.  
The song ended. It felt so short.  
"You're staring." I heard a faint giggle as the next song loaded in. "I—" I stopped myself. I was so painfully obviously staring. I sighed. "I.. I guess I am?" I shrugged, adverting my eyes. "I've never heard you sing before..." I mumbled. How could I not stare? Whenever I was with Claudia there was little I wanted to look at besides her. Most of the time. It was a pain. I wanted to look in her direction, but she made me nervous. Weak in the knees. Stole my breath away. _Every time._

We sat in silence for the next few minutes. Claudia would gym along to any song she recognised and I'd listen. And watch . More discretely this time around. At least it seemed that way.

I had been watching the passing cars when I took notice of it. Claudia has stopped humming. I assumed she didn't know the songs. That was until I felt something hit my shoulder. It was her. She'd fallen asleep. I wasn't surprised. She must have been tired. I was too.

As I looked at her I felt my heart race. She was so close. If only I could hold her. In a perfect world maybe... in another universe, in one where she was mine.

_If only that universe was this one._

* * *

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep too.  
I don't know how long I slept. When I awoke though we were just arriving at the fencing centre. Claudia was still fast asleep. Kinda didn't wanna wake her. But I did anyway.

I gently nudged her off my shoulder. "Hey, we're here." I said attempting my most gentle tone as to not rudely awaken her.

She yawned. Claudia looked up at me with a confused expression. She needed to stop being so cute before I die or worse— tell her. What I feel is something she doesn't need to know. Not now. Not yet. It could wait a bit.

We got out of the vehicle together. Claudia latched herself onto my arm and it made my heart skip a beat. We followed Runaan into the white modern looking building. It was bigger than the one close to town.

Runaan lead me to the women's wardrobe. I got in and changed into the designated protective gear.

When I got back out of the wardrobe I saw Runaan and Claudia waiting for me. Was I really in there for that long? I guess that would make sense. I hadn't put in any of this fencing gear myself in who knows how long. Runaan motioned for us to go the moment he saw me. I trailed behind him and Claudia

The main hall was pretty empty. Besides four or so other people who occupied the large room.

Claudia sat down on a small bench close by to me and Runaan. We did a quick warm up, and Runaan explained the basics to me. I remembered, but what harm could it do to hear those things again.

Runaan declared the rules for our warmup match. My immediate thought was to go on the offensive from the start. To try to figure out Runaan's strategy from the start.

I went right into a straight attack. Runaan parried it like it was no effort. I kept with my strategy. He kept parrying. And when he didn't do that he would counterattack. He rarely went full offence. But then again I didn't really give him the opportunity.

I tried figuring out what to do next. Should I give him a chance to attack? Would I be able to counter it though?

While I was distracted Runaan got me. He got me. He scored a point. He couldn't have let me win the practice match? I sighed and we went back to our starting positions.

We continued for a while. Runaan kept scoring no matter how hard I kept trying to score. Damn. Couldn't I score at least one point? Especially since Claudia was watching. Just one point, I'd be so content.

We kept at it for a few more rounds. I was getting annoyed. Can't he just let me get a point?! He has no blind spots! At the very least I can't see or find them.

"Ugh! I give up!" I exclaimed loudly. Runaan had just scored his tenth point or so. I had stopped keeping track. "Come on Rayla! Don't give up so easily!" He was teasing me. I could feel it. Was he really gonna do this?

"Just one more time and then I'm done!"

This time, it was a long one. I spent a lot of time on the defensive so he couldn't score. I refused to let him. I studied his every movement and tried to find a blind spot. Or something! Anything!

Alarm bells went off in my head. There! I saw it! His blind spot. He created it when he did a plain straight attack. It was risky, but I had no choice. If I wanted a point I would have to try.

I partied and went straight into a straight attack before he got the chance to counter. The tip of my foil hit his torso.

I did it...

Holy shit I did it. It was only of the few and only times I had been able to score a point on Runaan. And he didn't let me score on purpose!

I excitedly turned to Claudia who now was standing up. She looked so engaged. I dropped my foil and ran toward her. Once I was by her side I removed my helmet.

"Rayla that was great!" She grabbed my hands excitedly and looked me in the eye. I felt my face beat up. I didn't know if I was nervous or if it was the adrenaline. "I know, right?!" I said proudly back.

She let go of my hands. "It was so cool how you did that! Runaan looked like he had the upper hand for most of that!" She imitated the attacks I had done. I couldn't help but laugh. "He still won though..." I said somewhat sadly with a shrug. "I'm happy I managed to score though, haha"

"You did amazing! That one point counts as winning to me!" Claudia laughed. She walked with me to the wardrobe to get changed later after a few more matches with Runaan.

I got out of the wardrobe again. This time; freshly showered and with a new set of clothes. A pair of blue denim shorts and a band T-shirt.

"Runaan is waiting in the car." I heard as I stepped out into the hallway.

"Ah, ok." I smiled. Claudia walked up to me and suddenly grabbed my hand. She interlocks our fingers and we made our way outside.

Once in the car she didn't let go. Besides to put on our belts.

I handed her the right earbud once again and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep the instant we started driving. For the whole car ride I don't think she ever let go of my hand.

It was a comforting feeling.

I woke up to my head on Claudia's shoulder. I didn't know whether or not she was awake, but I wanted to stay like this. Just a little longer.

When we approached her house and parked into her driveway the sun was staring to slowly set in the horizon. Claudia dragged me out of the car with her and onto her front porch.

"Thank you for letting me come with you guys today."  She tucked s strand of her elegant dark hair behind her ear. "It, um—it was a lot of fun to have you tag along, Claudia." I said sincerely. I really thought having her around was a lot of fun.

We stood in silence for a little bit. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Or if she expected me to do something. I looked down at out still interlocked hands and smiled faintly. I was happy she hadn't let go yet.

"So, Rayla—" I looked up and met Claudias eyes. "Since Callum is leaving tomorrow, and he's gonna be gone for a while..." she looked away sheepishly, my eyes must have been playing tricks on me because it seemed like blush was covering her cheeks. Although it was faint. "You wouldn't mind hanging out alone with me? Would you?" She was still looking away.  
"Of course not!" I said instantaneously. It seemed to startle her as she quickly looked back at me. I adverted my eyes, embarrassment covering every inch of my face. "It's fun to be around you— so I wouldn't mind..." I added quietly.

Claudia giggled. "Great!" I glanced from the corner of my eye. Her expression was soft and she looked really happy for some reason. "I'll text you tomorrow then?" Her smile was crooked and one of her brows were furrowed ever so slightly.  
I nodded in her direction.

She finally let go of my hand. I felt myself reach for her hand again once e felt the cold air on my palm. I stopped myself in time for her not to notice.  
I scratched the back of my neck. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" I got a nod back and we said our goodbyes.

Once back in the car I kept staring at my hand. I wonder why she didn't let go. I didn't mind that she did it. I was just curious as of to why.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK UPDATES!!  
> So updates for this fic are gonna be way more irregular now since I have exams and stuff now and it's killing me;;; I posted this chapter as two separate chapters on wattpad, but decided to post it as a long chapter here! Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I'm sorry to have left this fic alone for so long!! I missed it, it's kind of become a stress reliever for me. I just love Rayla and Claudia sm and they make me happy,,,, hopefully I'll manage to finish this! I really hope I can— it's actually the longest fic I've ever written and I wanna see it trough to the end! I hope you stick around till then. Anyway I'll update this fic whenever I can! I hope you enjoyed this update! I'm sorry if there are a fuck ton of spelling mistakes, it's 2am :) please spare me;;


	8. ix

** Claudia **

I waved as I watched her walk further away.  
I shut the door behind me.  
" _I wonder if I made her uncomfortable, somehow_?"

* * *

 

** Rayla **

On Wednesday me and Claudia went out, alone. If felt weird to not have Callum or anyone else there with us. I was not gonna complain about it though. It was refreshing to be like this. We didn't do much in all honesty. We just walked around town. We got ice cream at some point.

I did find out that I knew less about Claudia than I though. As outspoken as she was I had no idea she was into witchcraft. She said she mainly dealt with something called 'draconian magick' and 'crystal magick'. I didn't quite get it. It was completely foreign territory for me.

Out of curiosity I asked if she made potions and stuff like that. She joked around and said that while they did exist she hadn't made one before. "Unless coffee counts" she added.

Once she was done explaining Wicca and magick to me, I told her the story about how I was almost kicked out of the teach team in fifth grade.  
In short it was because I wouldn't stop Naruto running. The coach had to call Runaan. It didn't get me to stop. For a few weeks that is. After that I stopped running like that.

Claudia thought it was hilarious. She almost dropped her ice cream.

Thursday Claudia came over to my house. We played 'Naruto Shippuden: ultimate ninja storm  
4'. She said she didn't play many video games. At least not anymore. I showed her how the game worked. What buttons to press and so on. I'd open the in game tutorial or the manual, but I would rather show her myself.

She picked it up decently fast. She won over me a few in-fact. Only when I decided to play any character other than Kiba. I had mastered the art of playing as him so playing anyone else felt a little odd. Besides Naruto, though I actually wasn't that good as him.

Friday we watched Ava for Ellis. Her and her family were gonna be out of town all day and couldn't bring the poor pup. Ava didn't seem to mind though. She just seemed happy that we were around.

Claudia was all over her. She loved that dog like it was her own. Continuously she went on about how cute and cuddly she was. They fell asleep together around midday. They looked so peaceful, they both looked adorable. I might have taken a picture. Claudia was drooling. I strangely enough found that cute as well.

I sent her the picture I took in the evening.

* * *

 

**Black Bird**

I wanted to take a picture of Ava, but you were in the way so you're in it too. So sad.

_Oh my god I'm drooling so much_  
_I'm sorry you had to see that, lol_  
_Thank you for immortalising it in photographic form though_

You're welcome, can't wait to blackmail you with it one day :)  
Or just use it to remind you of how much you drool in your sleep.

_Hah! That's where you're wrong, love_  
_I in-fact am proud of my drooling! You won't be able to blackmail me that easily!_

Those are obvious lies, but I'll let you believe them.

* * *

 

Love..? Did she always write like that? Is this something she calls everyone? I didn't think too much about it. I tried to accept it. Which was hard because the thought of Claudia calling me 'love' to my face made my heart stop and beat insanely fast at the same time.

By Saturday morning I had learned to relax around Claudia. I wasn't a constant mess. At least I believed so until she would pull one of her stunts to kill me. Like getting extremely close to me at random. Or like holding my hand for long periods of time. Or whenever she complimented me— you know what maybe I still was a constant mess.

Regardless I had an easier time relaxing around her. It felt nice. Just being able to be with her.. and to be me around her. Not some robot that broke down the instant she'd make eye contact with Claudia.

I constantly tried my best not to stare at her much. But when she would smile though, it was like I was staring at the sun. I couldn't look away. It was like I became hypnotised. After a few minutes of that Claudia would point out my staring. I never knew if she'd noticed earlier and chose to ignore it or if it was the moment she noticed. To me it didn't really matter. As long as I wasn't making her feel uncomfortable.  
Which I asked about. She said she didn't mind.

We didn't get to be in person for long on Saturday. Claudia was going to a thing with her dad and brother. I didn't know the details, but I think they were going to Del Bar for the day. Claudia did say her mother lives there.

It wasn't any of my business so I tried to not think about it. I decided to stick to texting Claudia the whole day. She kept talking about how it was 'incredibly cold despite it being summer'. Well of course! Del Bar is further north, and I heard it's pretty windy.

* * *

 

**Black Bird**

_We won't be home before it's obscurely late today  
Sorry, I was really looking forward to go the amusement park with you today :(_

Claudia it's fine. You don't need to apologise.  
It's not like we paid nothing for the tickets. Runaan got them from work.

_You sure it's fine?_

Yes. 100%  
We can always go another time! We could bring Callum! I wanna force him on to one of those big rollercoasters he hates so much, haha

 _Lol, okay then :)_  
Hey to make up for it, since there isn't much to do on a Sunday would you want to come over to my place tomorrow?  
OH!! We could have a sleepover!!  
What do you think?

A sleepover? Uh, sure sounds nice.

_Great! You can come over whenever you want then!_

* * *

 

Sunday arrived quicker than I expected it too. It was as if Saturday night was nonexistent. Suddenly it just was 9am on Sunday.

I relaxed for most of the day. I spent a relatively good amount of time packing my bag to go to Claudia's. I packed the essentials like my clothes, toothbrush and so on. As well as a few movies I liked that we could watch if Claudia desired. They were horror movies. Claudia mentioned she liked them. I wasn't a big fan, but I had a few I really enjoyed. And I might have impulsively bought the ones I liked on blu-ray.

I started heading towards Claudia's house around 6pm. I wanted to go as early as I could. I wanted to see her so bad. I was invited, but I didn't want to overstay my welcome. The walk to her house was pretty short. I might have walked fast. Like an 'almost running' kinda fast. So I was mildly exhausted when I stood in the driveway of her house. 

I took a few deep breaths so I could relax and come down from the high of having almost ran all the way here. 

I knocked three times on the wooden front door. It didn't take long before Claudia's dad, Viren, opened the door. "um.. Hello", He just stared at me for a bit before gesturing me to go inside. Was staring at me a thing that everyone in that family did?  He didn't even say hi!

After stepping inside Soren noticed me. "Claudia is in her room." I did not know where her room was. I had never really been in her house before. I was standing in the entrance hallway. Looking at Soren trying to give him a hint that I didn't know where her room was. "Its up the stairs, the innermost room in the hallway... past the bathroom.." He finally got it! God that took forever. I thanked him and walked deeper into the house. 

I walked past a large living room and dining area on my way to the staircase. Once I reached the second floor I took notice of another living room. It was a lot smaller than the one downstairs. It was to the left of me when I walked up. There was a large white sofa that was seated against the railing of the staircase. And these was a large TV situated on the wall across from the sofa. As well as a smaller white sofa to the left of the TV and an armchair to the right. There was also a glass table in the middle.

I walked to my right. Past three doors in a decently sized hallways. Past a few plants and small decorative tables till I reached the end of the hallway. I held my bag in a tight grip as I knocked on the white door. "Come in!" I heard from the other side of the door. I slowly opened it and peered my head inside. "Rayla!" Claudia shouted my name excitedly. She strode over to the door opening it wide to let me into the room. 

Her room was big. Bigger than mine at least. Not that it surprised me much at all. In the middle was a queen sized bed with a black closet to each side of it. There was a small desk with a laptop and other trinkets on it opposite of the bed.  The walls were a light grey color and the floor was wooden. There were fairy lights hanging from the closets. Another thing I took notice of was the two doors that lead out to what seemed to be a small balcony. The frame of the doors was wood, but the middle was made of glass. I could see straight out into her backyard. It was huge.

I stood in the room in awe. This house was so luxurious what the hell?! I almost didn't notice Claudia taking my bag out of my hand and placing it on the floor by one of her closets.

"Please, Rayla, sit" She laughed and plopped down onto her bed. I took a breath and sat down at the foot of the bed. Claudia rolled over close to me. "Anything you want to do?" I looked at her. She was wearing her usual smile that I loved so much. "I..uh-" I stopped, trying to think of what to say. "In all honesty? I don't know" I laughed sheepishly and looked away From Claudia. "I feel pretty overwhelmed by your house, haha".

I had been at Callum's house before. It was smaller than this. Yes his dad is the CEO of a big company, but Callum said that he and his mom liked it modest so they settled for a smaller house. But I also knew they had a huge cabin they went to during winter. Which I had been to that one time they invited me to go skiing with them. Unlike that though, that felt like a resort or something! This.. THIS was the place Claudia lived full time. 

I was _really_ overwhelmed. 

"Do you want me to give you a tour?" Claudia sat up next to me. "I don't know if it will help you feel any less overwhelmed, but at least you'll know where stuff is." I nodded at her. I didn't think it would help. Or maybe it would. Anyway a tour would be nice.

She took my hand a I felt my heart race. She lead me out of her room. "Let's start on the first floor!"

By the time Claudia had shown me the whole house it was 8pm. She held my hand the whole time. She didn't let go until we were back In her room. 

"That took longer than I thought it would" Claudia chuckled. "You don't say?" I added, irony evident in my tone. 

We sat in a comfortable silence for a good minute or so. "SO! uh... Would you like to watch a movie?" I inquired. That walk trough the house had rendered me somewhat speechless and I just wanted to do something uh, 'normal'? Something that could distract me from the fact that I was in I mini mansion and couldn't quite process it.

"Yeah, sure! Anything in particular you'd want to watch?" Claudia asked. 

"I actually brought a few..." I reached over to my bag, digging into it. I completely messed up the system I had created in my bag. That didn't matter though. I found what I was looking for.

I placed my blu-ray copies of 'Poltergeist', 'The Ring' and 'The Silence of the Lambs' on Claudia's bed. She studied the movies I had placed in front of her. She frowned and looked at me.

"I can't choose"  she sighed. "I like all of these.." she looked up to her right and crossed her arms. I watched intently. She seemed to be deep in thought for quite some time.

She looked back down at the movies placed neatly on the bed. She hesitated, but picked up 'Poltergeist'. "It's been forever since I watched this though-" She was looking sown at the small box in her hands and turned it to look at the backside of the box art. Claudia looked back up at me. I could read it on her face that she was asking if I would like to see it too. 

I gulped. Last time I watched that movie I got scared shitless. But then again I watched it alone. And besides I kind of had a feeling it would be ok now. Since Claudia was with me...

I nodded in her direction. Claudia instantly lit up. I saw the split second where her eyes went from questioning to shining with excitement.

Without letting go of the box she grabbed my hand for the second time that day. Making me blush in an instant. 

"Come on!" She smiled, a light shade of dusty pink spread all over her cheeks. I wondered if she ever noticed my red face, if she had I was happy she hadn't mentioned it. I wouldn't know how to explain it away.

She lead me to the upstairs living room. I sat down on the large sofa next to the stairs so I could clearly see the TV. Claudia turned on the TV and placed the disk inside their old Playstation 3. She then proceeded to get the remotes to both the TV and the console. Placing them on the table, on the side closest to where I was sitting. 

Before playing the movie Claudia ran off. I had no idea where she went, but she was gone for at least ten minutes. 

Upon her return she was carrying a few pillows and a large blanket. She was struggling to carry everything by herself so I got up to help her. 

I placed the pillows on the sofa, and suddenly the large piece of furniture felt way smaller. I sat down in my spot from earlier and watched Claudia.

She grabbed the controller to the console and the movie started playing.

She took the blanket and placed it over the both of us as she sat down. She was sitting close to me. The closest she'd ever sat next to me in fact. I tried to create a little bit of distance, but it was as if the pillows and blanket were pushing me close to her.

I wasn't about to complain though.

* * *

 

The end credits were rolling.

The movie wasn't particularly 'jumpy'. There were jump scares, but they were few and relatively far from each other. Yet, whenever there was a scare I found myself inching closer to Claudia. 

By the end of the two hour long flick I was practically in Claudia's lap.

She didn't seem to mind though. Which sent a spark of joy to my heart.

I ended up distancing myself form Claudia though. I had been sitting still for so long, I needed to stretch my legs. I groaned, I could hear the bones in my back as I stretched. 

I looked over at Claudia. Her eyes were closed, she was peacefully sleeping. I fished my phone out of my pocket, to capture the moment. 

Long strands of her dark hair were covering her face. I knew the photo wouldn't look 'good' if I let it stay like that, so I did what any rational human being would do. 

I leaned in close to remove the hair from her face. Once I got close enough I reached my hand over to tuck her hair behind her ear. I looked at her. Noticing just how close I had gotten to her. Our foreheads were practically touching. I held my breath. I had never noticed how long her lashes were. They were long and dark. I studied her face. It was a rare occasion.

If Claudia had been awake I couldn't have been able to bare the feeling of my heart beating. Yeah, it was going crazy now- but at least I got to be close to her without fully freaking out.

I kept admiring her. She was truly beautiful. 

"Claudia.." I whispered, I didn't want her to wake up. Not yet. "I.. I think I like-" I stopped myself. I saw her eyelids twitch a few times before she slowly revealed her green eyes I adored so much. 

"Rayla...?" 

I jumped back. Almost dropping my phone in the process. "Y-Yes Claudia?!" I was so sure I had a heart attack. I kept myself from clutching my heart. I didn't want to seem suspicious I guess?

"Is the movie over?" Claudia yawned. She reached for her phone to check the time and rubbed her eyes with a swift gentle motion. "Yeah, it is" I replied simply. Attempting to calm myself down.

She got up, stretching her arms. "Its getting late, maybe we should sleep" She turned and looked at me. "You look tired, we can clean this up tomorrow." She reassured me with a smile.

After brushing our teeth and such we headed back to her room. The room was dark. The only light source in the vicinity being the fairy lights.

I crouched down next to my bag. I put my blu-rays away and started searching for my pajamas. They consisted of a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I searched in my bag and only managed to find my pair of shorts.

I knew I forgot something. I sighed. I could sleep in my current shirt, but it wasn't comfortable for sleeping in.

"Crap"

"Whats up?" Claudia looked at me. She was already done changing. Her outfit wasn't all black for once. I brushed it off though.

"I might have forgotten my pajamas at home." I tried to laugh it off. It wasn't a big deal after all.

"You can borrow something if you want-" She turned and started walking towards her closet. "My clothes might be a little too big for you though." She giggled. 

She got a black T-shirt out of her closet. "Here!" She smiled as she handed the piece of cloth to me. I thanked her and go to changing. Gosh was I exhausted.

"I wonder what you'd look like in a skirt..." It took me a minute to realize Claudia had been looking at me for a while. And another minute to process what she said. 

"Wha-?" I was so confused. Where the hell did that come from? "Or a dress.." She was definitely talking to herself. "What are you talking about??"

"Nothing, just thinking out loud" She laughed it off like it was absolutely nothing. "You are making absolutely no sense right now." She shrugged at me. I do not understand her sometimes. "Rayla, come here I wanna braid your hair!" She was patting the spot in front of her. The cotton-blend fabric of her bedsheets making a faint noise with each pat.

I furrowed a brow. Where was all of this coming from. Where did she get this energy? 

I hesitated, but I complied and sat down on the spot in front of her. Facing her. "I don't understand where you're getting all this energy." I rolled my eyes with a smile. "I thought you said you were tired earlier" I added to my previous statement as she started messing with my hair.

She put a hand in front of her mouth, letting out a small laugh. "I said _you_ look tired." Claudia was focused on braiding my hair. "whatever.." I pouted, earning myself another laugh from her. She got ever so slightly closer to me as she braided, saying it was to make sure she got all of my hair into the braids. 

"And... you're done!" She moved back. I instantly brought my hand up to one of the braids to look at it. It was messy and pretty loose structurally. But it was cute in its own right. I couldn't help but laugh a little, looking at it. "You suck at braiding." I let out, with a raised brow.

"I know I'm not that good at braiding, but at least I tried!" She defended herself. "You can try to appreciate my efforts!" She said playfully, and crossing her arms with an overly dramatic pout. It made me laugh even more, it was too cute! I even thought I saw Claudia blush for a second there.

"They're cute, thank you Claudia." I said in-between laughs. One of my braids came loose in my laughing fit and Claudia hurried to fix it to her best ability. 

Her sudden closeness stopped my laughing in an instant. Her face was so close again. Like it had been earlier. I looked away, feeling my face heating up rapidly. My nerves caught up equally as quick and I could once again hear my heart leaping out of my chest. I felt it creeping its way up my throat choking the air out of my lungs. I gulped. Doing my best to open my airways again so I could breathe. 

Claudia once again finished braiding. This time though she didn't move back. She was looking at me. I could feel the piercing stare of her green eyes on me. I was looking away. I couldn't bear looking in her immediate direction. I bit my lip, hoping this would be over soon and that Claudia would laugh the situation off like she always did. 

I caught a glimpse of her from the corner of my eye. Her face was unnaturally serious. At least for her. Did I have something on my face?? Without noticing I had started fidgeting with the strings on my shorts.

"um.. Could you look at me for a second?"

Her voice was soft and caring. There was no malicious intent in her tone. Although it did feel like she was trying to murder me. I wasn't able to bring myself to look at her. My face was as warm as the sun kissed pavement on the warmest summer day.

"Rayla.."

Her tone, while still soft had more demand in it this time. She was _ordering_ me now, but even if she was. I still felt she was giving me an option. Maybe I was just imagining things.

"Please"

Suddenly. I felt her hand against my cheek. Causing me to bolt up and look at her. Her hand was cold, it felt nice against my warm face. Claudia's eyes were locked on mine. I could feel my whole body freeze up, as if I became paralyzed by fear.

Unable to move I closed my eyes as my only attempt to break the intense eye contact.

I heard Claudia sigh. I also heard her mutter something. I tried to make out what she was saying, but just couldn't place together what she said. 

I heard some rustling in the sheets and Claudia's other hand on my other cheek. In response I slightly opened one of my eyes, curious as of to what was happening. My eyes bolted open. She was even closer now than earlier. I could feel her breath on my face.

"Claudia...?"

I barely managed to mutter out her name, the syllables were getting stuck in my throat. She was quiet. Too quiet. It made me nervous. It felt like she kept coming closer to me. My heart racing with every inch.

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see.

I felt her hands slide off my face. 

Then...

Our lips met.

Hers were cold against mine.

It felt like I had a fever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very tired :)  
> This chapter ended up being really long, whelp;  
> I hope you enjoyed it though, once again I'm uploading this at 2am- lol, what's a healthy sleep schedule???


	9. x

** Rayla **

Holy shit holy shit holy shit—  
What's happening right now?  
Is this real life? Am I dreaming?! This has to be a dream!

I clearly felt Claudia hold my hands. Her fingertips against mine. It all felt so surreal. I let myself get lost in the moment.

It wasn't a dream. This was happening. I was kissing Claudia— she was kissing me. I found myself enjoying the closeness between us more than I had the right to.

I let it last for a few more seconds before I snapped back to my senses. I panicked. It took all my strength, but I gently shoved Claudia away from me. The feeling of her lips against mine lingered.

"Rayla... I—" Claudia started. I couldn't bring myself to look at her. My hands were shaking, I couldn't speak. I didn't know what to do.

I ran.

* * *

 

** Claudia **

I felt distance growing between me an Rayla. She was pushing me away.

I got too carried away. I must've made her uncomfortable.

"Rayla... I—" I was going to apologise for my reckless actions. But before I could finish talking she stormed out of the room.

I hastily followed suit. I couldn't let her get away before I told her how truly sorry I was. Before I told her how I felt!

In the hallway I stormed past Soren. I had no chance of catching up to Rayla, but I still tried. By the time I ran out the front door so couldn't see her anymore. I didn't know where she'd go. Although I had a suspicion she went home.

There I stood. Breathless. In our driveway. In the middle of the night. The warm summer breeze agains my face as I stared blankly into the darkness ahead.

"Damn it..." I didn't know how I would approach her again. She probably didn't want to see me. I totally blew it.

I felt a tear run down my cheek.

* * *

 

** Rayla **

The tears were trickling furiously down my cheeks. They were making it hard to see in the pitch black night. I tried to make it stop. But the tears were persistent.

I didn't know why I was running. I just kept on going till I felt myself get exhausted. My breath was heavy and the heat made it harder to breathe. I had ran out of that house in such a haste that I completely forgot my stuff.

I couldn't bring myself to go back. To face Claudia— to look her in the eye felt like an unrealistic goal. I couldn't bring myself to look at her the same again. Now that I felt I have a chance, I didn't know if I could hold my feeling back.

But I had to. She was with Callum after all. I really felt like I was ruining things for them. It made me want to cry more. I was ruining my friendships with my two closest friends.

I brought my trembling hands up to my face.  
Why did we do that in the first place. What even leaded up to that moment. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it or if I said I didn't want it to happen again. But I really wish I didn't happen. It shouldn't have, whatever lead Claudia to do it?

A prank?

Was she messing with me? Did she realise my feelings and decide to toy with them?  
I didn't want it to be that. But I just couldn't believe she would just kiss me. The thought of her liking me the way I like her was just a thought. A dream. Something I wanted but could not obtain.

I stood there on the sidewalk for a little longer. Till my tears stopped. I slowly started to make my way home. Runaan was luckily still awake, and I got inside.

I went straight to my room. Runaan didn't seem to want to bother me. Which I was fine with.

I collapsed onto my bed. I was so exhausted, both emotionally and physically. It took me a second to realise I had forgotten my phone as well at Claudia's house.

I curled up into a ball, remembering I was still wearing Claudia's shirt. It smelled like her. It was a scent that at the moment caused me great grief. I clutched the soft cotton fabric and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to the sound of the front door being shut with the brute force only Runaan could muster— although unintentionally.

I heard his heavy footsteps approaching as he walked up the wooden stairs.

The creak of the door startled me and I hid under the covers. I peeked up from behind the comfort of my blanket. He was holding a bag. My bag.

"Claudia said you forgot this last night, she said she made sure all your stuff was in it."

He shot me a genuine, trusting smile. One only he could muster. One he'd only allowed a very select few people to see. He placed the bag next to my bed  and told me to make sure I put my stuff back where it belongs.

I avoided looking at the bag that was right next to me for as long as I could, but it was practically calling me name.

I tried to sit up in my bed, quickly realising I was still wearing Claudia's shirt. I bit my lip.  
The though of not being able to see her— to be near her without possibly feeling weird disturbed me. I hated it more than I hated myself for even thinking it.

With a sigh I got up and sat on the wooden floor next to the bag. I stared at it for so long before I finally decided to just open it. What harm would it even do. Opening it wouldn't have any consequences. It wouldn't make the situation any better or possibly worse than it already was.

I slowly unzipped it.

My clothes were neatly put into the bag. Folded nicely and everything! Everything seemed to be systematically put in as well.

I took my time taking the clothes out. Putting them in small piles on the floor next to me. I put all the shirts together and all the pants together etcetera. To make it easier for me to put all the items where they belonged in my closet.

There wasn't much in it. When I got half way though I took instant notice of my phone. It was neatly tucked together with the charger between two pairs of my socks. I took the charger out and the phone equally as quick.

As I expected; it was dead. The screen would just not turn on! I was forced to stare at my reflection for what felt like ages because of it. I got up and plugged it into the charger, it instantly started charging when put into an outlet.

I sat back down on the floor in defeat. Cross legged this time, and I just happened to notice something I hadn't earlier.

It was a folded piece of paper. Or pieces of paper?  
I couldn't remember putting that in my bag, maybe I had just stuffed it in there long ago and forgotten about it?

I reached for the paper. It was stationery paper! One I didn't recognise. The paper was a cream colour and on the bottom of the page it had the silhouette of a castle scribbled in a dark brown. I decided to examine it more and upon turning it I saw writing.

 _'To Rayla_  
_Please read.'_  
It said.

The lettering was very nice, it was easy to read and it looked very similar to Claudia's handwriting— wait! Could it be? Could Claudia possibly have written this?

I held my breath. I clutched the ends of the paper in both of my hands. My heart was racing. Why would she write this?

My mind was running wild with possibilities of what the contests of this letter could be. It could be absolutely anything! It could even be...

I nervously took a breath.

It could even be Claudia telling me she didn't want to see me again. And that she didn't want to hang out with me even if Callum was there too.

I felt a few tears starting to well up in my eyes, but I suppressed them. I wasn't gonna cry! Not until I knew what the contents were! Then... Then I could decide wether or not it would be appropriate to cry about it.

I very hesitantly opened the fold. I hadn't even noticed my eyes were closed as I did so, a reflex perhaps?

I opened one of my eyes to take a look—

My breath was blown out of my lungs as I saw what was written. My eyes widened and I couldn't believe it. There was a lot written, but I kept dwelling on the first few words written at the very top of the page.

My hands started shaking, I kinda didn't want to read on.

I still decided to do so, to get the full context.

I read the first words once again. They read:

_'I'm sorry Rayla.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one this time around;; it took a while, rip— I tried ending it on a cliffhanger as the next chapter might be the last one.  
> Emphasis on might, as that statement very much depends on how long it ends up being and stuff;;; 
> 
> I could be possibly planning a sequel to this. ;)))


End file.
